Pizza Divertimento Cordierite Pizza Stone Set with Peel

A stone and a real peel, in one box

“The 32.5 in peel has an 12 x 12 in aluminum blade and a wooden handle for sliding pizza onto the stone and lifting it out.”

This is the only item on this shelf sold with a pizza peel. A stone is heated to the top of the oven’s range; getting a dressed pizza onto it without a peel is the part nobody warns you about, and the usual sequence is a stone bought first and a peel bought after the first disaster.

Against the other two stones sold on Amazon.com:

this — a 32.5-inch peel with a 12 × 12 inch aluminum blade Unicook, $33.99 — a plastic scraper that doubles as a dough cutter Ritual Life, $36.95 — a dough tool and a detachable carrying tray

An aluminum blade is the right choice for a launching peel. It is thin, so it slides under a cooked base without tearing it, and it does not hold moisture the way wood does. Dust it with flour or semolina before the dough goes on, which the listing says too, and the pizza slides off in one movement.

15 × 12 × 0.6 inches, in cordierite

“The rectangular stone measures 15 x 12 x 0.6 in” — in the title, in the size field and in the item highlight.

Two figures on the same page disagree. One bullet prints 0.06 in and the dimension table 6 inches of thickness. Both are typing slips: a 0.06-inch stone would be a sheet, a 6-inch one a paving slab. The 0.6 inch given three times is the stone.

Which puts it in exactly the format of the Unicook, the one stone on this shelf that publishes the same 15 × 12 × 0.6 inches. A 15 × 12 inch surface takes a pizza of up to about 11 inches with room to turn it, and two flatbreads side by side.

Cordierite is the right material for the job. It survives the thermal shock of a cold dough landing on a hot surface, and its porous surface draws moisture out of the base — which is what the listing means by “helps draw moisture from the dough for a crisp base”.

A preheat instruction, and no temperature limit

“Place the dry stone on a rack in a cold oven or covered grill. Preheat for at least 30 minutes at about 480 degrees F.”

That is the most concrete preheat instruction on this shelf. The Unicook and the Ritual Life say “preheat the stone” without a time or a temperature. Thirty minutes is about right: a stone has to come to temperature through its whole thickness, not just at the surface, and an oven light going out after ten minutes only tells you the air is hot.

Starting cold is the other half. A stone put into a hot oven, or set on a cold countertop when it comes out, takes a temperature difference across the material — which is what cracks stones. Put it in before the heat and take it out after the cold.

What is missing is a ceiling. The Unicook publishes 1,450 °F and the Ritual Life 1,500 °F; this listing gives none. In a domestic oven, which tops out around 500 to 550 °F, that matters little. On a covered grill, where the listing tells you to use indirect heat and keep the stone away from open flames, it is the figure you would want.

Cleaning: no soap on the stone, no dishwasher for the handle

“Brush off food residue without soap or detergent. Wipe the peel with a damp cloth and dry thoroughly; do not soak the wooden handle or put it in the dishwasher.”

The same rule as the other cordierite stones here. A porous stone absorbs detergent and gives it back to the next pizza. Stains are normal and do not need removing; they are what a used stone looks like.

What is not published

No weight. The Unicook publishes about 6.8 lb on the same footprint, which is a fair guide to what a 15 × 12 × 0.6 inch cordierite slab weighs.

No temperature limit, as above.

No warranty.

Availability

No price was read on Amazon.com when this page was revised. The same reference is sold on the European Amazon stores.